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Explore More Leadership Roles
CTOs are typically hired a year after achieving major funding to begin to develop a platform that enables growth and evolution.
Source: 2022 RRA Growth Co Analysis, n = 50 CTOs
Comparing initially placed CTOs vs. CTOs in seat at IPO
Key Differences in Backgrounds of CTOs (% of CTOs)
Customer Focus: As they scale, B2C companies are twice as likely as B2B companies to replace their first CTO placed beyond the founding team
Authors
- Robert Alexander is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Technology Knowledge team. He is based in New York City.
- Agnes Greaves co-leads the firm’s Core & Growth Technology practice globally and the Consumer Digital & Media practice in Europe. She is based in London.
- Tuck Rickards heads the firm’s San Francisco office and co-leads the Core & Growth Technology practice. He is based in San Francisco.
Methodology and Notes
- Analysis of 40 tech/tech-enabled companies that were founded since 2005 and IPO’d 2017-2021, were largest by region according to valuation at time of deal, and achieved ≥20% revenue growth rate over the three-year period prior to IPO
- Industry verticals included: fintech, healthtech, automotive/transportation, eCommerce/marketplace, software/cloud
- Analysis includes only the appointment of non-founder executives
- Major funding rounds: approximate point in time at which each company reached series C/later stage funding
- APAC excluded from study due to data accessibility
- Sources: Pitchbook, Board Ex